Backbutton focussing

THC_SsSsSnake · 18 Apr 2014 at 06:59

Just been reading about this.is it a good thing to learn early on or should I get more experience with general photo taking first?
Thanks

And · 18 Apr 2014 at 07:09

I use it and wouldn't change back, it makes sense (to me) to take the AF function away from the shutter button for a start.

THC_SsSsSnake · 18 Apr 2014 at 08:21

thanks

And · 18 Apr 2014 at 08:50

FWIW I use Canon (1DMkIV and 7D). On the back of the bodies I reprogrammed the AF-On and * (Exposure lock) buttons to swap their functions around as I find the * button more comfortable with the thumb than the AF-On button, but that's just a personal preference.

PhotoPixels · 18 Apr 2014 at 09:49

imho, it's a good thing to learn early on, rather than re-learning later, it really becomes second nature. I find it much easier to focus & re-compose before shooting.

THC_SsSsSnake · 18 Apr 2014 at 21:14

Thankyou.will give it a go

Vertigo · 18 Apr 2014 at 22:25

I've never been totally clear on the advantages of this. In what specific situations does it help?

RIZZEE · 18 Apr 2014 at 22:28

Same, I usually half press the shutter, recompose then shoot

V-Spec · 18 Apr 2014 at 22:28

Vertigo1 said:
I've never been totally clear on the advantages of this. In what specific situations does it help?

It means you can focus independently, whilst shooting the camera - for example if you're a sports photographer in the goal area, if you're shooting whilst people are running back and fourth - the camera will constantly adjust AF whilst shooting, which is quite often a pain because it ends up locking onto something you don't want.

If you use the back button only, you can shoot without worrying that the camera will out focus itself.

King4aDay · 18 Apr 2014 at 22:34

It's just about a million times better in all kind of tricky situations - for moving subjects in complex lighting environments where you want to de-couple focus and exposure locks, for example. Or for macro where you want to use AF to get the focus close to where you want it to save time over manual focus, but not have it hunting backwards and forwards every time you take a shot. There are plenty of situations where its nice to be able to use the AF sometimes, but not every time you depress the shutter, without having to worry about switching between MF and AF modes.

Derek W · 18 Apr 2014 at 22:37

V-Spec said:
It means you can focus independently, whilst shooting the camera - for example if you're a sports photographer in the goal area, if you're shooting whilst people are running back and fourth - the camera will constantly adjust AF whilst shooting, which is quite often a pain because it ends up locking onto something you don't want.

If you use the back button only, you can shoot without worrying that the camera will out focus itself.

Yep i will be using this tomorrow after travelling to middle earth! Well stranraer but the journey is longer!

413x · 19 Apr 2014 at 01:51

This is really interesting. Will have to give this a go myself. Not sure what Button it will map to without the camera in hand

{SAS}TB · 19 Apr 2014 at 09:21

Oddly I was reading about this the other day and have set this up this morning for a try later

Gogl · 19 Apr 2014 at 14:14

I picked up my camera earlier and thought "Why is the autofocus not ******* working!?"

Then I remembered I'd be trying out this method.

I can see it being useful, I just wish the AE-L button was a little further out.

THC_SsSsSnake · 19 Apr 2014 at 16:17

am i correct in thinking this method isn't any better for say a 1 shot pic?

At The Gates · 20 Apr 2014 at 21:38

It's great, i use it a lot except for wide apertures where you can't really focus and recompose without having something else entirely in focus. I have back button focusing saved to U1 and normal shutter focusing set to U2.

Devrij · 20 Apr 2014 at 23:07

THC_SsSsSnake said:
am i correct in thinking this method isn't any better for say a 1 shot pic?

Not so. If, say, you want to focus on one subject (eg a face), but take exposure readings from something else (eg a pretty sky you don't want to overexpose), then you can back button focus on the face and half shutter press over the sky so that you have the desired focus and exposure straight away. Then you just fully depress the shutter button when you are correctly composed.

413x · 20 Apr 2014 at 23:17

Devrij said:
Not so. If, say, you want to focus on one subject (eg a face), but take exposure readings from something else (eg a pretty sky you don't want to overexpose), then you can back button focus on the face and half shutter press over the sky so that you have the desired focus and exposure straight away. Then you just fully depress the shutter button when you are correctly composed.

i did not know you could do this.. i have so much to learn!

Devrij · 21 Apr 2014 at 08:29

It's really handy at times. Takes a little getting used to, but well worth it.

Vertigo · 21 Apr 2014 at 09:26

Devrij said:
Not so. If, say, you want to focus on one subject (eg a face), but take exposure readings from something else (eg a pretty sky you don't want to overexpose), then you can back button focus on the face and half shutter press over the sky so that you have the desired focus and exposure straight away. Then you just fully depress the shutter button when you are correctly composed.

This is no different to normal focus and recomposing - just focus on the subject with a half-press of the shutter then recompose and take the shot. The exposure isn't locked until the shutter is released.

I don't doubt that BBF is useful is situations but I still stuggle to understand exactly what they are.